The legendary home of Ulysses:
A man lost at sea. No map. Won't ask for directions.
Ulysses's thoughts on reading, writing, and anything else that occurs to him.
Once in a while, he will try to be funny.

Entries could be weekly. Maybe more often. Maybe not. Life's a crap-shoot.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Book Report: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

I don't know if you could consider this a proper prequel to Anansi Boys, although it was written before and some of the same themes and ideas are present here as well. It's the story of Shadow, an ex-con who only wants to settle back down with his wife and his job and get back to the business of living. Unfortunately, his plans are derailed first by accident, then by the machinations of a man who calls himself Wednesday.

It's interesting ground for mythology buffs, because Gaiman gives us a glimpse into where the gods, ancient and modern, came from and he has some fun putting them into lives that aren't out of place in modern America. It's also the story of a true hero, in the Joseph Campbell monomyth sense, who manages to be wounded and human and still archetypical.